1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a computer implemented method and apparatus for managing data processing systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for centrally managing data processing systems in a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's computing environments, virtualization is becoming more and more common. Virtualization involves pooling of information technology resources in a manner that shields the physical nature and boundaries of resources from users. This type of environment includes logical partitioning to make a server run as if that server was two or more independent servers. A user would see the single physical machine as two or more independent servers. When a server is logically partitioned, the resources are divided into subsets called logical partitions. The processor, memory, and input/output devices are examples of resources that may be assigned to logical partitions. An operating system may be installed on the disk drives, such that each logical partition runs as an independent server with the processor, memory, and input/output resources allocated to the partition.
Configuring these types of computer systems with dynamically customizable hardware resources currently requires a system administrator to configure and maintain these configurations. The elements in configuring logical partitioned (LPAR) systems include, but are not limited to, network information, the size and amount of disks which may be physical or virtual, and Ethernet adapters. The network configuration information includes, for example, the Internet protocol (IP) address, a subnet mask, and a default gateway. Ethernet adapters are examples of input/output devices that include their own configuration information, such as part of the virtual local area network (VLAN) to which they belong. The configuration of some of these elements are made easier by certain currently available tools, such as a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server, IP configuration, or a network installation manager (NIM) for network installation of operating systems remote software customization and system management.
These tools currently require an administrator to connect to the system being configured or managed through a hardware management console (HMC). A hardware management console is a hardware appliance that connects to the server firmware. This terminal allows an administrator to make hardware configurations, install operating systems, applications, and configure software for the LPAR data processing system. Further, with the availability of these remote tools, these tools may be able to aid an administrator in controlling configuration but are disparate and are not easily interoperable with each other. As a result, a large number of tools are present that a system administrator is required to master to configure these LPAR data processing systems and other systems with customizable hardware resources. As a result, the complexity in configuring and managing these systems increases.